


Hug

by ChronicCombustion



Series: The Minor Fall, The Major Lift [2]
Category: Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 01:33:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5848759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronicCombustion/pseuds/ChronicCombustion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in the darkest of places, there is a light. Even in the cruelest of worlds, there is kindness.</p><p>(Companion piece to A Broken Hallelujah)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Original Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate ending next chapter.  
> Companion piece to [A Broken Hallelujah](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5848618) but can be read as standalone.

  
(Please listen to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSgsW9GLerA) while reading for maximum intended heartbreak~)

 

She was there every week, twice a week, for two months straight. He had seen her standing on the street corner; sign in hand, looking sad and dejected. He had wanted to go over to her, to see why she looked so lonely. But he had always been too busy dashing off to work to really have much of a chance. He could never see what the sign read, just her. She was never there when he came back by in the evenings.

Two months. Each time he saw her, he swore to himself that he would go visit her, someday.

Then, finally, just at the end of that second month, he had been let off early. As he made his way home, sun just beginning to touch the horizon, he stopped at a crosswalk to wait for the light. By chance, he looked over at the opposite side of the street. There she stood. He looked both ways, noting that no cars were coming. Squaring his shoulders, he marched across the pavement to where she was.

She appeared to be getting ready to head home for the night, the sign tucked under her arm and a backpack hanging from her hands. She stopped when she saw him approach. At first she just looked at him. Then a hopeful smile tugged at her mouth and she pulled the rectangle of poster board free to hold it up in front of her.

**Free Hugs**

The words were written clumsily in black marker, nothing but ink on paper. But they held a kind of power; a promise of goodness left in the world, and it brought a grin creeping up his face at the sight of them.

Her own smile transformed, lighting up her features like the dawn. She took a step in his direction, silently asking. He nodded. She threw her arms around him, letting out a soft hum as he pulled her close.

The embrace was long and serene, neither person in any hurry to let go. He breathed deeply, savoring the feeling of peace, of human contact. He couldn’t remember when he had last experienced it, and he wanted to hold on as long as he could before it left him.

When they finally parted, he felt something shift in his chest. Almost like some little part of a barrier had been chipped away. His grin melted into a tranquil smile. A genuine one; the likes of which he hadn’t used for years. It matched hers perfectly.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You’re the first one…”

And then she was gone, disappearing across the street into the falling December snow.

For years afterward, whenever he passed by that corner he would look for her. But he never saw her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote two different endings for this one - this ending is the original, more ambiguous one, and the second is longer and ties more tightly in with [A Broken Hallelujah](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5848618). It's also a little sadder.
> 
> Like my work? Wanna geek out with me? [Come and hit me up on tumblr!!](http://chroniccombustion.tumblr.com/) 0w0


	2. Alternate Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is exactly the same as the previous one up until the point where the original ending left off. It picks up from there, so you can either reread this in its entirety, or you can just skip straight to the bottom if you'd prefer~

She was there every week, twice a week, for two months straight. He had seen her standing on the street corner; sign in hand, looking sad and dejected. He had wanted to go over to her, to see why she looked so lonely. But he had always been too busy dashing off to work to really have much of a chance. He could never see what the sign read, just her. She was never there when he came back by in the evenings.

Two months. Each time he saw her, he swore to himself that he would go visit her, someday.

Then, finally, just at the end of that second month, he had been let off early. As he made his way home, sun just beginning to touch the horizon, he stopped at a crosswalk to wait for the light. By chance, he looked over at the opposite side of the street. There she stood. He looked both ways, noting that no cars were coming. Squaring his shoulders, he marched across the pavement to where she was.

She appeared to be getting ready to head home for the night, the sign tucked under her arm and a backpack hanging from her hands. She stopped when she saw him approach. At first she just looked at him. Then a hopeful smile tugged at her mouth and she pulled the rectangle of poster board free to hold it up in front of her.

**Free Hugs**

The words were written clumsily in black marker, nothing but ink on paper. But they held a kind of power; a promise of goodness left in the world, and it brought a grin creeping up his face at the sight of them.

Her own smile transformed, lighting up her features like the dawn. She took a step in his direction, silently asking. He nodded. She threw her arms around him, letting out a soft hum as he pulled her close.

The embrace was long and serene, neither person in any hurry to let go. He breathed deeply, savoring the feeling of peace, of human contact. He couldn’t remember when he had last experienced it, and he wanted to hold on as long as he could before it left him.

When they finally parted, he felt something shift in his chest. Almost like some little part of a barrier had been chipped away. His grin melted into a tranquil smile. A genuine one; the likes of which he hadn’t used for years. It matched hers perfectly.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You’re the first one…”

And then she was gone, disappearing across the street into the falling December snow.

He never saw her again after that day.

The next week, her body was recovered from a dumpster in the next alley over. A rare, bright spark of humanity – snuffed out like a candle in a storm.

To him, the world suddenly seemed just a little bit darker, less kind, emptier. It was like the light that she had brought to his life with just the simple act of affection had been an anchor that tethered him to this place, making everything just that much more bearable. The kindness she willingly gave. Gone. Everything good had been taken along with that one girl. He wished he had known her name.

He stopped walking on the other side of the street, refusing to go any way home but past where she had once been. Once, just after she had been found, he went to the alley that had been her grave. He just closed his eyes as he stood in the entrance, remembering the feel of her arms as she hugged him. Something crinkled under his foot, buried in the dirty snow. Her sign.

Carefully, he picked it up and brushed away the grime. The words ran down the paper like black tears, still just legible despite the damage. They cried where he could not, ink cascading across the once-pure white surface. A marring of something once innocent.

For the next two months, he stood on that same corner, holding up a ruined poster board sign, hoping that maybe the world could see and that, somewhere, someone would listen. But even if he was the only one to have seen what true beauty was when he saw it, he would honor her memory by passing on her gift to others, whether she knew or not.

And if, years later, a certain green-skinned roommate happened to find the mess of marker and paper hidden away in the closet, he would just sigh and finger the edge of the sign with a smile of regret and gratitude…and tell the story of the girl who stood in the snow and offered kindness while asking nothing of anyone else in return.

**Free Hugs.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So was the girl really alive to begin with? Or was she a ghost that Hanna unintentionally freed when he gave her the hug she was looking for? I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

**Author's Note:**

> Like my work? Wanna geek out with me? [Come and hit me up on tumblr!!](http://chroniccombustion.tumblr.com/) 0w0


End file.
